A rebellious teenager who finds himself in a fight for survival when a
global pandemic leads to a violent siege at his school.
Review by
Hugues Porquier
Directed by: Oliver Milburn
Starring: Oscar Kennedy, Liam Lau Fernandez, Alex MacQueen, Samantha Bond, Jasmine Blackborow,
Steve Oram, Anthony Head
Adapted from a novel by Scott K. Andrews, School's Out Forever
is directed by Oliver Milburn, best known for his 2016 film
Dunroamin, which won the award for 'Best Drama' during the Discover Film London
Festival that same year.
We follow Lee Keegan (Oscar Kennedy), who, after being expelled
from his private school for boys, will face a much bigger problem - a
virus has spread around the world, killing everyone whose blood type is
not O Negative.
On the advice of his mother, Lee takes refuge in his old school, where he
is reunited with his best friend Mack (Liam Lau Fernandez), as well
as other students, a teacher (Alex MacQueen) and a nurse (Jasmine Blackborow).
Lee's return to school is followed by the arrival of another group of
survivors, who are determined to make a child pay for the theft he
committed. This interruption and the conflict that follows provides the
thread that leads to the film's various events. One of the assailants is
the daughter of the leader of a group of armed survivors (Samantha Bond), who will try to find her daughter at any cost.
This scenario doesn't seem very original; the confrontation between two
groups of survivors is a rather common trope of post-apocalyptic films.
Whether in the recent Light of My Life (2020),
Greenland
(2020) or in the amazing The Road (2009) or
28 Days Later (2002), we can see that one of the most
dangerous and scary threats is human behaviour. Indeed, the
post-apocalyptic context seems to bring out a more primal aspect of
humanity, seeking to survive and satisfy our needs without worrying about
the social repercussions this might have. In
School's Out Forever we can see, for example, the evolution
of Mack, who gradually loses the notion of reality and whose choices seem
more and more dangerous.
The most interesting thing about this film is that it takes place in an
atypical environment where atypical events occur. We follow a group of
students, absolutely unprepared for the events they will undergo, their
reactions and their evolution. The film oscillates between drama, horror
and comedy. The events are tragic, but the school context makes the film
quite light.
One of the negative points of the film is the performances of certain
actors; a lack of credibility is sometimes felt, giving us the impression
of watching yet another bloody teen movie.
Milburn's film might have benefitted from being played as straight horror or
entirely as a comedy - the mix of the two doesn't really offer a
convincing result. In the same vein, the photography is a bit too classic
and smooth. Something dirtier to accentuate the horror, or bloodier to
accentuate the comedy, may have been preferable.
School's Out Forever is however a pleasant enough watch, and
it ultimately distinguishes itself from a classic post-apocalyptic
thriller, without falling into the clichés of a teen movie.
School's Out Forever is on UK
Digital from February 15th and blu-ray/DVD from April 12th.
